Penn State Board of Trustees Member Joel Myers: NCAA Process was `Unfair and Un-American'

Joel Myers, a long-time Penn State trustee, expressed support for new trustee Ryan McCombie's appeal Monday of the NCAA sanctions leveled against Penn State.

Myers, the founder, president and chairman of the board of State College-based AccuWeather, told StateCollege.com the NCAA's sense of fair play failed.

"(Ryan) served his country and I support what he's doing," Myers said of McCombie, a former Navy SEAL. "He wrote about fairness and justice and I support what he said – it's fundamentally unfair.

"The whole process was unfair and un-American."

McCombie was elected to the Penn State Board of Trustees this past May and started his term July 1. On Monday, he sent a letter to the entire board and a notice of appeal to the NCAA.

By Monday afternoon, a group of fellow trustees had already expressed support for McCombie's actions taken to appeal the sanctions dealt to the Penn State football team, which is facing a four-year postseason ban and scholarship reductions.

Myers said while the appeal is important, the board has also expressed sympathy for and pledged to aid the victims of Jerry Sandusky.

"We feel for the victims ... we have great compassion for them and what they've gone through. We've taken action as a board and as a university to acknowledge that."

Myers said the NCAA's action is now making victims out of those who neither knew about or had anything to do with Sandusky's serial abuse.

"My belief is the NCAA 's sense of fair play failed," said Myers, the father of Dan Myers, Publisher and Owner of Lazerpro, the parent company of StateCollege.com.

On July 25, the board met behind closed doors at the Penn Stater for three hours to discuss Penn State President Rodney Erickson's acceptance of the sanctions, something he moved ahead with sans consent from the full board.

No action was taken at that meeting and board chairwoman Karen Peetz released a statement Aug. 1 saying the board and the university intend to comply with the sanctions and support Erickson.

McCombie's appeal is the second to challenge the NCAA sanctions.

The Paterno family announced Friday they would be filing an appeal to in an attempt to reconcile the "enormous damage" done to Penn State.

NCAA Vice President of Communications Bob Williams said later Friday on Twitter that "the Penn State sanctions are not subject to appeal."